In the sterilization of surgical instruments it is desirable to have a sterilization tray assembly which will support the instruments during sterilization and can also be used for transporting and storing the instruments after sterilization. As instruments become larger and more complex, such as those used in endoscopy and orthoscopic procedures, it is necessary to provide a support having resilient contact with the surgical instrument and which can be securely positioned within the tray so that it will not be displaced during handling of the tray. Due to the appreciable weight and size of the surgical instruments this support may be subjected to considerable stress.
Since surgical instruments come in a wide variety of shapes and forms, and since it is impractical to have a single tray devoted to a particular type of surgical instrument, the art has developed numerous systems wherein supports for the surgical instruments can be provided in modular form and the various modules can be selectively positioned within the tray, for example, by plugging portions of the support elements through holes in a portion of the tray. The support elements can thus be arranged to match the shape of the surgical instrument to be sterilized.
Examples of such products are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,868 to Sheinholz and U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,103 to Miller. Similar products are commercially available from companies such as Poly-Vac, Incorporated, of Manchester, N.H., and other suppliers. Some of these prior devices include integrally molded stubs, for example positioned on the bottom of the flexible inserts, which stubs can be locked into the vent holes in the tray as shown, for example, in FIG. 1 of Miller U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,103. They may also comprise separate, more rigid, holding elements such as shown in FIG. 3 of the above '103 patent where a rigid holder for the support element is be fastened by screws to the tray or an additional shelf carried by the tray. In the '868 patent, the support element for a soft sponge rubber, constituting a hold down pad, is supported by a channel member having outwardly extending buttons which can be forced into vent holes in the cover or base of the sterilizing tray. Another prior U.S. patent of interest, U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,292 shows hollow pegs having elongated legs which can be used for attachment to a perforated sterilizer tray.
While all of the systems described in the prior patents and commercially available products provide a certain amount of flexibility, they do not provide both strong security for the support members and low cost. Nor do they allow for ease of removal of a securely mounted support so that the supports can be differently positioned in the sterilization trays for holding different shapes of surgical instruments to be sterilized.